Republican former military prosecutor George Brauchler will take control of both the state's highest-profile criminal case and its most active district attorney's office after voters favored him by 7 percentage points in the 18th Judicial District.

Brauchler beat out Democrat and long-time Arapahoe County judge Ethan Feldman, 64, after a narrow victory in a contentious GOP primary against DA Carol Chambers' second in command.

Brauchler, 43 and a supporter of capital punishment, will decide whether to seek the death penalty in the trial of accused Aurora theater shooter James Holmes. Since he's not had access to Holmes' case file until now, Brauchler has not said whether he believes death is appropriate.

He has also promised to reform an office that saw high turnover, large backlogs and faced criticism for overly harsh charging decisions under Chambers, his term-limited predecessor.

"I'm not just the new name on the letterhead. This is an office that needs significant changes in terms of leadership, vision and culture," Brauchler said. "I want it to be as positive and seamless as possible."

His said his first step will be to reach out to Chambers' staff to organize a smooth transition.

The challenger, Feldman, beat Brauchler by nearly 10 percentage points in Arapahoe County, a swing county that voted Democrat on Election Day, but Brauchler easily won in GOP-dominated Douglas, Elbert and Lincoln counties, giving him the victory.

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Despite endorsements from high-profile Republicans including Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson and former DA Robert Gallagher, Feldman could not recover from what he called a "predictable" voting pattern in the more Republican counties.

Feldman could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Theirs was perhaps the most-watched district attorney's race in the state, and for good reason, said Tom Raynes, director of the Colorado District Attorneys' Council.

"That's the biggest district as far as caseloads and one of the most significant jurisdictions policy-wise in the state," Raynes said. "Whoever inherits that district immediately takes over not just a powerful position, but the opportunity to lead the state in the prosecutorial realm."

Brauchler has both worked in the private sector and as a prosecutor in Jefferson County. He served as chief of military justice at Fort Carson Army base until he shipped out to Iraq. He returned from deployment in October 2011.

He called his victory "humbling."

"So many people gave up their time and treasure on my behalf," Brauchler said. "I wanted to win to be a great district attorney even without that, but you reflect on how much people have done to put you in a position to win."

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